Politics & Government
Fairfax Co. Casino Bill Sent Back To Senate For Reconsideration
The Virginia House of Delegates voted to send the Fairfax County casino bill with amendments back to the Senate for reconsideration.
RICHMOND, VA — Lawmakers in the Virginia House of Delegates voted Wednesday to approve the Fairfax County casino with amended language, sending it back to the Senate for reconsideration.
When Senate Bill 756 was brought to the house floor for a vote, delegates voted down a motion by Del. Rodney T. Willett (D-Henrico) that would have added substitute language submitted by the House General Laws Committee.
Willett then made a motion to approve the bill with substitute language from the House Appropriations Committee.
Find out what's happening in McLeanfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
"The Appropriation substitute adds three guardrails to this bill with the goals of public safety and transparency," Willett said. "Those three changes are requiring certain documentation utilized by host localities as part of its consideration of the preferred casino gaming operator to be made publicly available. A second requires the eligible host locality to select a proposed casino gaming operator that has voluntarily proffered the construction funding or dedication of at least one police precinct headquarters or a fire and emergency medical services station, and , three, it has an enactment sundown clause in the legislation if Fairfax does not hold a successful referendum by July 1, 2029."
The bill passed 59 to 37 as amended, with one abstention and two delegates not voting. Since the bill is now different than the one passed by the Senate on Feb. 13, it heads back to the other chamber reconsideration.
Find out what's happening in McLeanfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
On Feb. 25, the General Laws Committee voted 12 to 7 to the bill with a substitute amendment that, among other things, raised the casino licensure fee from $50 million to $150 million and set the casino tax rate at 40 percent of adjusted gross revenue, with 50 percent allocated to the locality.
Two days later, the House Appropriations Committee approved a substitute that removed much of the language added by the General Laws Committee.
The Appropriations substitute removed the $150 million fee requirement, dropping it back to $50 million and deleted a revenue sharing formula that was more favorable to Fairfax County.
The General Laws version specifically allocated 5 percent of tax revenues from the locality (Fairfax County) to the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority Capital Fund. The Appropriations version does not mention WMATA.
Read Patch's reporting on Comstock Companies' plan to build a casino in Fairfax County at Silver Line Casino.
The General Laws substitute required localities to consider a proposer’s commitment to paying prevailing wage rates for construction labor. It also mandated that preferred operators enter into labor peace agreements with labor organizations. To support these rules, the General Laws version added legal definitions for "Labor organization" and "Labor peace agreement.” None of these labor-related provisions are included in the bill heading back to the Senate for reconsideration.
On Friday, Jennifer Van Ee, Fairfax County's legislative director, told the Board of Supervisors that if the House passes the casino bill as amended, the Senate would need to vote again on those changes.
"My guess is that the Senate will reject those," she said. "The House will reject the Senate, and they will go to conference. So, that will take place in the final week of session, and we'll see what comes out of that."
If passed by both houses of the General Assembly and signed by Gov. Abigail Spanberger, SB756 would give the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors the authority to put a referendum on a future ballot, allowing voters to decide whether a casino should be built in the county.
In December, the Board of Supervisors voted to include language in its 2026 legislative package opposing the casino legislation that Senate Majority Leader Scott Surovell (D-Mount Vernon) intended to introduce during the then upcoming legislative session.
On Feb. 12, the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriations recommended SB756 with a substitute to the full Senate for consideration. The substitute removed the requirement that a casino would be built in Tysons, which made all of Fairfax County as a possible location for any casino proposal.
Also See ...
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.
